Friday, September 26, 2014

If
there was one particular incident in the Mahabharatha which could be
termed as changing the very nature of the story it would probably be
the Sabha Parva, where Yudhishtara played dice with Shakuni and lost
his kingdom and everything else. Until this point in the story, the
Pandavas and the Kauravas were just two groups within a family who
were vying for the throne of Hastinapur.

Strangely
enough, in this decisive parva, neither the Pandavas, nor the elders
of the Kaurava assembly speak much. The actually talking is done by
Draupadi and one another person....a Kaurava who spoke in favour of
Draupadi.

Read
on the story of one such unsung hero in the Mahabharatha...

The
ill-fated dice game was going on in the court of Hastinapur. The
elders were watching the game fearfully as Shakuni rolled the dice
with confidence. Yudhishtara, was heavily losing and was steadily
getting reckless.

As
the game went on Yudhishtara lost his brothers one by one. In the end
Yudhishtara even lost himself as a slave to the Kauravas...But the
game was not over....not yet.....

Shakuni
looked tauntingly at Yudhishtara. ‘You have lost even yourself, son
of Pandu!'

Yudhishtara
squirmed unable to meet the eyes of anyone in the court, not
believing what he had done....

Shakuni
paused studying the former king of Indraprastha and continued with a
dangerous smile on his lips. '....However there is one thing you
still have! Probably if you stake that, there is a chance you may win
yourself back!’ he said softly.

‘What
do I have?’ Yudhishtara asked.

‘The
beautiful Krishna, the princess of Panchala!’ Shakuni whispered.

Though
Shakuni spoke softly, every single person in the assembly heard him.
There was not a single breath in the assembly as people watched
dumbfolded the spectacle which unfolded before them.

Not
daring to look at any of his brothers, he nodded his head fearfully.
‘I
will bet the dark Princess Krishna!’ He said hoarsely.

The
elders of the court – Vidura, Bhishma, Drona and Kripa were looking
shocked unable to believe the level Yudhishtara had descended into.
But not one person spoke….Not one…

King
Dhirdarashtra listened with astonishment as Yudhishtara announced
that he was going to stake Panchali. His keen ears followed the sound
of the dice as Shakuni cast it. King Dhirdarashtra regretted his
blindness as he called, 'Was the game won?'

King
Dhirdarashtra was even more angry as he realized that no one answered
his question. Normally adept at hiding his feelings, he was unable to
do so anymore as he called shrilly again, ‘WAS
THE GAME WON?’

‘Yes!
It is!’ was all Shakuni said onto the eerily silent court.

‘HA!’
Duryodhana let out a shout and looking viciously at the Pandavas and
then at Vidura, who had collapsed on the floor, looking incapable of
getting up. ‘Get that woman here! She is going to sweep these
chambers and stay where our servants stay! Go get her!’

Vidura
looked at Duryodhana slowly willing himself to speak normally.
‘Carried away by the game, Yudhishtara has failed to understand
that he no longer had Krishna! He lost himself!’ he said his voice
raising shrilly. ‘After that Yudhishtara, no longer has any rights
on the dark Panchali!’

Duryodhana
smiled smugly, ignoring Vidura's remarks as usual, when Vidura
shouted. ‘You wretch! You foolish wretch! Do not do this! You take
one more step and you are inviting your doom! And you will drag the
entire Kuru household with you!’

Duryodhana
looked dangerously at Vidura and then turned to the Pratikamin. ‘Go!
Get her!’

The
Pratikamin looked fearfully at the Pandavas when Duryodhana shouted.
‘You have nothing to fear from these slave Pandavas! Vidura….’
Duryodhana said looking at Vidura. ‘…he is just raving! He cannot
do anything!’

The
Pratikarmin slowly nodded his head as he went to Draupadi's room.
'You are wanted in the Kuru Sabha! The King has lost you in a game of
dice!' he said without any preamble.

Draupadi
blinked, her mind unable to process anything the man had said.
'WHAT?' she asked faintly.

The
man repeated his words.

'Did
the king have nothing else to play with, that he staked me in the
game?' demanded Draupadi flustered.

The
Pratikarmin looked at the furious red face of the Queen of the
Pandavas and almost faltered. 'He has lost everything in the game of
dice, Princess! He even lost himself and in the end, he staked you
too!'

Draupadi
looked numbly at the man, unable to believe the insanity of the
entire situation. She the queen of Indraprastha, the most prosperous
kingdom in the world, the kingdom which rivalled Indra's
Amravathi....And she was staked in a game of dice.....Draupadi shook
her head trying to make sense of something....

Slowly
Draupadi's resolute nature took over as she looked at the Pratikarmin
with cool eyes, her heart thundering with fear. 'Go to the Kuru
assembly and ask a question! In the game of dice, did the king lose
himself or lose me first?'

The
Partikarmin hesitated. He was here under the orders of Prince
Duryodhana to bring the Princess to the assembly. From experience,
the Pratikarmin knew exactly how furious the Prince would be when he
went to the court alone....

He
was about to open his mouth when the fire-born princess looked at
him. 'I NEED THE ANSWER!'

The
Pratikarmin quavered at the look of anger in Panchali's eyes and
decided that he might as well brave Prince Duryodhana's anger and
made way to the Kuru assembly alone.

There
slowly, hesitatingly, he asked the Kuru assembly Draupadi's question.

'HA!'
Duruyodhana shouted with almost with delirious vengeance. 'Ask the
princess to come here and ask the question herself!'

The
Pratikarmin looked at Duryodhana and realized that he was almost
fearing the prince as much as he feared Draupadi. But realizing that
he has no choice in this matter he went back to Draupadi's chambers.

Draupadi
looked at the Pratikarmin as he told them of what had happened in the
Kuru Sabha, getting more and more bewildered and furious, by the
minute.

She
took a deep breath and looked at the Pratikarmin. 'I am a
daughter-in-law of the Kuru house! Ask the elders about the morality
of the issue involved in this case! Ask the elders of the assembly
whether my coming to the assembly like this...(it is said that at
that time, Draupadi was clad in a single piece of cloth) whether it
is moral or not?'

The
Prathikarmin hesitated once more, but he knew that the Princess was
not going to change her mind.

He
returned to the Kuru assembly and repeated her question.

No
one answered.

'What
shall I tell Krishna?' The Pratikarmin asked swallowing fearfully at
the prospect of facing the princess without an answer.

Duryodhana
looked at the Pratikarmin with disgust. He turned to Dusshasana.
'This foolish man is afraid of Bheema! Brother, you go and get her!'

Dusshasana
nodded his head as he set out for Panchali.

'KRISHNA!'
He roared as he entered the her chambers. 'KRISHNA!' he called out
again.

When
Draupadi heard Dusshasana, she realized that there was no negotiation
with the man.

The
man was drunk with power and arrogance and beyond negotiation...

She
ran from there to the rooms of the Kaurava women. That did not stop
Dusshasana. He roared angrily pulling Drauapdi to the Kuru assembly
with her long hair as she screamed angrily at him. Karna laughed
loudly at the treatment of Draupadi.

Draupadi
was brought to the Kuru assembly and there was shocked to find the
silent Pandavas sitting beside the dice game.

Draupadi
angrily looked at the elders of the Kuru assembly, not believing that
these great men would have allowed such a foolishness to be allowed
right in front of their own eyes.

That
was when she remembered that she was brought her to address a
question...one question.

She
looked at the grandsire angrily waiting for him to answer.

Bhishma
looked down mumbling. 'I cannot decide the morality of the issue! One
cannot bet what one does not have! But....I cannot decide....' The
great Bhishma said.

Looking
at the treatment that Draupadi was receiving at the hands of the
Kauravas, Bheema looked angrily at Yudhishtara. 'Even poor gamblers
do not bet their women in any games...And you...You, the just king of
Hastinapur...' Bheema said sneeringly, '...you staked Panchali.....I
will burn your hands for this! Your very hands which threw the
dice...!' Bheema said viciously.

'Bheema!'
Arjuna looked at him shaking his head. 'You never have spoken to your
elder brother like this! Do not do this now....'

Bheema
looked at his younger brother and seethed angrily trying his best to
keep quiet.

Draupadi
watched the entire scene as no one spoke...Not one.

That
was when one young man came up to the court. A young man who is
Karna's words was an 'immature child'. He was Vikarna, the son of
Dhirdarashtra and one of the 99 brothers of Duryodhana.

Vikarna
looked at the entire Kuru assembly and angrily came forward. 'How can
you people allow this?' He asked the Kuru assembly looking at disgust
at his own brothers and the elders of the assembly. 'How can Bhishma,
Drona and Vidura, not know the answer that Draupadi has asked us? If
you do not answer her question, you will all go to hell! Answer her
questions, before doing anything.'

The
entire assembly looked at the angry young Kaurava prince who was
fighting for Draupadi. But then still no one answered.

Vikarna
huffed angrily. 'Fine! You people will not answer! I will! I will
answer the question that Draupadi had asked....'

The
young prince said looking around. 'I am neither the oldest nor the
most knowledgeable in this assembly! But I will say what I know! It
is said that hunting, drinking, enjoying the company of too many
women and gambling are the evils which a king may have. King
Yudhishtara was addicted to one of these, which is why he acted the
way he did and he staked Draupadi. When a man acts by evil, how can
what he does be called as correct? Besides Draupadi is the wife of
all the five Pandavas. How can Yudhistara stake her alone? And
Yudhishtara staked her after he staked himself....He has no rights
over her, after he lost himself....And remember that the other side
cannot ask a person playing dice to stake anything. Shakuni asked for
Krishna to cast as a stake! That is wrong! For all these reasons, I
think that Draupadi's stake is wrong...Draupadi cannot be considered
as won!'

Vikarna
looked at the assembly angrily as he let out a deep breath.

The
assembly applauded the young prince.

But
then Karna looked furious, almost as if he had lost his senses. 'Her
husbands are quiet! And who are you to talk in her favour? You talk
because you are just an immature kid!' Karna said spluttering.
'Yudhishtara lost himself....after that Draupadi was his possession,
she was lost then itself....And...Though Shakuni mentioned her as a
stake, Yudhishtara approved it!' Karna looked viciously at Draupadi.
'A woman can have one husband! A woman who has more than one
husband....she is no chaste woman....She has to be considered as won
by us!'

…..........

The
story goes on to how the Kuru assembly degraded itself and allowed
its daughter-in-law to be humiliated.....

And
so in this decisive part of the Mahabhartha, in the entire Kaurava
assembly, not the Pandavas or most of the Kauravas, or the great Karna or the
elders who were well-versed in Scriptures spoke....

Just
one young boy spoke fearlessly. He was the only one who was willing
to speak the truth without bothering about the consequences.....

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The war
between the Pandavas and the Kauravas was about to commence. Before
the commencement of the battle, Yudhishtara felt that he needed the
blessing of the elders. So without considering that the elders were
on the other side, he got down from his chariot and walked over to
the other side. With utmost devotion, he fell at the feet of Bhishma,
Droanacharya and Kripacharya and asked for their blessings to win in
the war.

After
receiving their blessings, Yudhishtara was walking back to his own
side when he suddenly turned. He looked at the Kaurava side. ‘If
anyone feels like fighting on the side of Dharma, you are welcome to
join and fight on our side!’ He shouted.

The
entire Kaurava side was silent for a second. However, then one person
spoke. ‘I will come if you will have me!’

Yudhishtara
turned and saw that it was Yuyutsu. Yuyutsu was the son of
Dhirdarashtra. But he was not the son of Gandhari. He was son of
Dhirdarashtra and Sauvali, a woman from the trader community.

Yudhishtara
happily welcomed Yuyutsu. Probably it was complete faith in Krishna.
But whatever the reason Yudhishtara looked at the Kauravas and said
smugly. ‘King Dhirdarashtra would now have atleast one son alive,
at the end of the war!’

Yuyutsu
was obviously always welcome in the Pandava side. Yuyutsu had been
silently helping the Pandavas, over the years. Yuyutsu was the person
who informed Yudhishtara about Duryodhana’s plan to kill Bheema,
when they were children. That was the reason the Pandavas were able
to go in search of Bheema, as soon as he went missing.

However,
at this stage, rather strangely, Vikarna said nothing. The Vikarna
who had defied his brother in open court and who had supported
Draupadi, because he felt it was the right thing to do, did nothing
when he was given a chance to openly support the Pandavas. It could
of course be that Vikarna felt that no matter what, whether his elder
brother was right or wrong, it was his duty to fight for him and
Vikarna was content to let himself fight for the Kauravas.

When the
battle moved on to the 13th day, Drona had formed the
Chakravyuha and had trapped the young Abhimanyu inside it. Inside the
Vyuha, the young Abhimanyu massacred every Kaurava in sight. Looking
at his technique, Dronacharya decided that Abhimanyu could not be
defeated as long as he had a bow and arrow in his hands. It was for
this reason that Dronacharya ordered a hoard of Kaurava warriors to
attack Abhimanyu at the same time. This was against the laws of war.
But then no one said anything.

The lone
voice which spoke against this was again Vikarna. ‘This is breaking
the rules of war!’ he exclaimed aghast at his own teacher.

Dronacharya
looked angrily at Vikarna. ‘Did the Pandavas follow the law when
they killed Bhishma using Shikandi?’ Drona snapped.

So this
time too Vikarna’s words went in vain and all the Kaurava warriors
together killed the sixteen year old Abhimanyu.

Hearing
the death of Abhimanyu, Arjuna swore that he was going to kill
Jayadratha who was the one who made sure that Abhimanyu was all alone
in the Chakravyuha, without any backup. Arjuna swore that if he did
not kill Jayadratha by the end of the day, he was going to kill
himself. Dronacharya being smart realized a golden opportunity and
guarded Jayadratha inside three Vyuhas.

But then
it was Arjuna they were talking about. When Arjuna started doing something, he did with his whole mind,body and soul. On the fourteenth day of the battle too, it
did not matter to Arjuna who was before him. All that mattered to him
was to kill Jayadratha. The existence of the other Kaurava soldiers
probably did not even come inside his radar.

Arjuna
was clinically annihilating the Kaurava army trying to get to
Jayadratha.

Obviously
there was a catch.

After
Bhishma had fallen, when Dronacharya had taken over the reigns as the
General of the Kaurava army, Dronacharya had promised Duryodhana that
he was going to bring Yudhishtara captive to the Kaurava prince.
However every time Dronacharya tried to take Yudhishtara captive, he
was thwarted by Arjuna and Krishna. Now with Arjuna deep inside the
enemy territory, Dronacharya set out to capture Yudhishtara.

However
both Arjuna and Krishna had anticipated this and asked Satyaki and
Bheema to protect Yudhishtara.

Satyaki
has a very interesting story in the war. Satyaki was a Yadava. Before
the beginning of the war, Krishna had assigned the entire Yadava army
to fight for the Kauravas. So the Yadava army fought for the
Kauravas. Despite this Satyaki fought for the Pandavas because he was
a disciple of Arjuna. As Arjuna had taught him the use of weapons,
Satyaki supported his Guru in the war.

When
Dronacharya attacked Yudhishtara, both Satyaki and Bheema fought off
the acharya. However in this short and fierce battle, Yudhishtara
lost sight of Arjuna.

Fearing
the worst, Yudhishtara sent Satyaki after Arjuna. Satyaki tried to
convince Yudhishtara that nothing would happen to Arjuna, but
Yudhishtara would not hear anything. So asking Bheema to defend
Yudhishtara, Satyaki went inside the Vyugha.

However
Satyaki was extraordinarily tired by the time when he reached Arjuna.
In fact it was Arjuna who had to protect Satyaki from Bhurishravas.
And so Satyaki could not give any message to Yudhishtara, about the
well-being of Arjuna.

And so
back to the Pandavas, Yudhishtara steadily grew worried as there was
no news from Satyaki. Realizing that he had to send his best warrior
to protect Arjuna and Satyaki, Yudhishtara sent Bheema into the
Vyuha.

Having
Dhrishtadyumna protect Yudhishtara, Bheema set out inside the Vyuha.

Dronacharya
was standing at the rim of the Vyuha. Both Arjuna and Satyaki had
bypassed the teacher because both of them respected Dronacharya.
However Bheema saw no such need. To him Dronacharya was no longer
worthy of respect. He was just the general of the Kaurava army.
Bheema fought well and killed Drona’s horses and charioteer and
brought down Drona’s chariot too. Drona ran to another chariot and
by this time Bheema was inside the Vyuha.

Inside
the Vyuha, there were two intense battles between Karna and Bheema.
In the first battle Karna all but killed Bheema, completely
humiliating Bheema and letting Bheema live because of his promise to
Kunti to not hurt any other Pandava other than Arjuna. However in the
second battle, Karna was not so lucky. Bheema fought back and fought
back brilliantly. But as Bheema was about to completely disable
Karna, Duryodhana sent his seven brothers to attack Bheema.

Bheema
let Karna go and turned to Duryodhana’s brothers. He had promised
that he was going to kill everyone of Duryodhana’s brothers and he
had already killed 39 of Duryodhana’s brothers. Seeing seven more,
Bheema’s eyes shone with the insanity of battle as he fell on them.
But then Bheema stopped short. Because he suddenly saw who was the
seventh Kaurava brother – It was Vikarna.

Bheema
tried to push away Vikarna because he did not want to fight him. But
in the end, the bloodlust of war won out and Bheema after a ferocious
struggle killed Vikarna in battle.

As
Vikarna fell dead, Bheema broke down crying. ‘My Vikarna! I killed
you too! War is such a hated thing!’ Bheema said looking disgusted
with himself. ‘You were a man of Dharma! You knew what was right
and were brave enough to act on it! And a wretch that I am, I was
forced to kill a man of Dharma like yourself…..’

Thursday, September 18, 2014

In those days, a priest was a very important part of any family. Primarily because the priest prayed to the Gods for the well-being of the family and the society as the whole. Such positions went to well-read and trustworthy persons. The priest of the Pandavas was Dhaumya. Here is the story of how he became the priest of the Pandavas....Duryodhana, the Kaurava
prince, hated the Pandavas so much that he along with Karna and
Shakuni planned and arranged for the Pandavas to be burnt in the
House of Lac. However, with the help of Vidura, the Pandavas thwarted
the plan and escaped from there. Everyone except ofcourse, Vidura believed the Pandavas to be dead. To protect themselves from further attacks, the Pandavas kept up the pretense of their death and went to the town of Ekachakra. There they lived in the house of a Brahmin. To further conceal their real identity, the Pandavas lived on alms there.

It was here that Bheema
rescued the Brahmin family by killing the asura Vaka or Baka.*********

'Do you know that King Drupada
of Panchala, he has just performed a yagna?' The Brahmin told Kunti
and the brothers.

'For what?' Arjuna asked. He
was the one who had been responsible for the defeat of the formidable
Drupada in battle. That was the Guru Dakshina which Drona had asked
from him.

'Unable to bear the
humiliation of being defeated by Drona, Drupada searched far and wide
in his kingdom for someone who could defeat Drona!' Arjuna sighed
shaking his head as the Brahmin continued. 'King Drupada was unable
to find anyone who could defeat Drona. So King
Drupada pleased Sage Yaja and Upayaja so that they would perform a yagna on his behalf! The sages performed the yagna and from the fires emerged a handsome man with full armour. They called
him Dhristadhyumna!'

'Is he going to kill
Dronacharya?' Arjuna demanded from the man.

The Brahmin nodded gravely.
'Yes! When he emerged from the fire, a heavenly voice announced that
he was going to bring the death of Drona!'

Arjuna was about to retort
something when the man continued. 'But that is not all!'

The brothers listened
attentively as the man continued. 'After Dhrishtadyumna, from the fire a beautiful woman also emerged! The woman was so beautiful that she looked like Goddess Sri
herself! She was dark with beautiful eyes and has lovely, beautiful
curls! It is said that gave out a fragrance which could be scented
two miles away! Because she was dark, she was called Krishna!'

The brothers looked wondrously
at each other unable to remove the image which the man's words
bought. Kunti studied her sons and smiled not saying anything. The
man continued, not realizing that the brothers had almost stopped
listening. 'When the woman arrived, the heavenly voice announced that she was
born to accomplish the work of the Gods!'

Kunti thanked the man and sent him on his way, well
realizing the mood of her sons. Long after the man had left Kunti
called her sons and was surprised to find that for the first time in her
life, her sons seemed rather listless and inattentive to her calls.
Suppressing a grin, she called the eldest Pandava, 'Son! I think we have
stayed enough in this town!' Yudhishtara looked surprised as his
mother continued. 'We will have to move on!'

And so the next day, the six
of them happily trudged along to the kingdom of Panchala. Probably it
was destiny or probably some other undefinable reason, whatever it
was the Pandavas never felt the reason to rest, when they were
traveling to Panchala. They even traveled at night as they came close
to the Ganga.

It was at that time that a
Gandharva was there in the river enjoying with his wives. The
Gandharva was proud and arrogant. Seeing a group of humans come up to the river late at night, made the Gandharva rather haughty. The Gandharva felt that the humans had no right to disturb him when he was enjoying with his wives.Angrily he came up before the Pandavas. 'Who are you humans,
disturbing me at this time?'

The Pandavas looked suitably
shocked at the arrogance of the Gandharva. 'We were on our way! We
did not want to disturb you....' Arjuna began politely. But the
Gandharva rudely interrupted him. 'The night belongs to Gandharvas,
yakshas and rakshasas! How dare you interrupt......'

The ever careful Arjuna
realized that the Gandharva was thirsting for a fight and pulled out
his bow and pointed it straight at Gandharva. Foolishly the Gandharva
thought that he could win this fight. He got on a beautiful glowing
chariot and laughed. 'I am Angaaraparvana! I am the best friend of
Kubera and the best of the Gandharvas! You cannot pass this river!'

'How can you think of barring
others from using rivers or any other water body?' Arjuna said
angrily. 'Besides this is the Ganga, the river which washes away your
sins! How on earth can you prevent anyone from coming to it! It is
the purest river in the world.....'

The Gandharva did not even let Arjuna finish the sentence. He pulled out his bow and started firing arrows at top speed at the Pandavas. The Gandharva should have known better....Arjuna stopped all the arrows with his shield and pulled out a
gleaming arrow and pointed it at the Gandharva. The arrow gleamed at
night as for the first time, there was fear in the Gandharva's eyes.

Arjuna nodded angrily. 'This
arrow was given by the Guru of Indra – Vrihaspasthi to Bharadwaja
and from him to Agnivesya! Agnivesya gave this to my Guru Drona and
he gave this to me! See what it does!' Quick as lightning, Arjuna
fired the arrow and the arrow blazed through the path and burnt the
chariot of the Gandharva. The Gandharva watched in horror as his chariot was being burnt down and jumped from it to escape the fire. The impact hit the Gandharva hard and he fell unconscious....

Heaving angrily, Arjuna pulled
the Gandharva from the wreckage and dragged him towards Yudhishtara.

Arjuna was looking angrily at
the Gandharva who was regaining his conscious when the Gandharvi
ladies ran towards Yudhishtara. One of them spoke hurriedly to
Yudhishtara. 'I am Kumbasini! I am his wife! Please spare his life!'

Yudhishtara looked angrily at
Angaaraparvana and then at the lady. 'Let him go, Arjuna! Don't belittle
yourself by killing a man who needs protection from someone else to
stay alive!'

Disgusted, Arjuna pushed the Gandharva away. The Gandharva stumbled as he got on his feet. 'I have been defeated by you! I shall
give you anything you want!' He said his voice hoarse from the fire.

'I want nothing from a man,
whose life I have spared!' Arjuna said.'No! No! No!' The Gandharva said desperately trying to save face in front of his wives.

'We Gandharvas have the power
of illusion! It is called Chakshusi! This is the power which
differentiates Gandharvas from the humans! I will give it to you!'
The Gandharva said.

Arjuna was about to protest
when the Gandharva continued. 'I will give you each, fifty horses
like the once I have! They look lean, but these horses never tire, no
matter how much you drive them!'

'I....I...' Arjuna faltered.
He cleared his throat. 'I have nothing to give you, in return of what
you are offering me!'

'You have saved my life! What
more....' The Gandharva asked incredulously. The Gandharva saw that
Arjuna really meant what you have said. 'I have met really good
people today! For that I am grateful! As a mark of our friendship! I
will not call myself, Angaaraparvana anymore!' The Gandharva looked at
his chariot which was now in ashes. 'Anyway, I cannot call myself
that, anymore!' (Angaaraparvana means 'blazing chariot' in Sanskrit)

'You can give me your arrow in
return of my gift!' The Gandharva said finally.

Arjuna agreed happily and the
exchange was made.

'Let us be friends for life!'
Arjuna smiled.

'Gladly, O Tapatya!' The
Gandharva said.

'Why did you call me that?'
Arjuna asked frowning. 'Who is Tapti?'

'Tapti is the daughter of Lord
Surya! She is the younger sister of Savitri! She was extraordinarily
beautiful! A king called Samvarna loved her! It was because of the
efforts of Sage Vasishta, who was the royal priest of King Samvarna
that the king was able to marry Tapti!' The Gandharva smiled as he
continued. 'Samvarna and Tapti had a brave son! Do you know his
name?'

The Pandavas shook their heads
when the Gandharva continued. 'Their son was Kuru! Kuru is your ancestor! That is the reason
you are called from the house of Kurus!'

The Pandavas nodded their head
and then Arjuna cleared his head. 'Friend! I will take your horses
later on, when I need them! For now, keep them with you!'

The Gandharva nodded, as
Arjuna continued. 'You said that the king married Tapti because of Sage Vasishta, who was his priest! Is it so important to have a priest for your own family?'

The Gandharva nodded his head
head earnestly. 'Yes! The priest would pray for your welfare and prosperity. That would give you victory in all your battles. Besides it is always good to have good people around you! Such a priest is necessary for your kingdom to flourish!'The Gadharva talked some more, trying to convince the princes the need for a priest.

'Do you know any person who
would be willing to be our priest?' Arjuna finally asked.

'In this very forest, near the Ganga, there is a
place called Utkochaka! There you will find a sage by name Dhaumya!
He is the younger brother of Sage Devala! He would be the perfect man
to be your priest!'That very night, the Pandavas with Kunti set out to meet the Sage Dhaumya.Seeing the serene, calm and powerful sage, the Pandavas felt an immediate connection with the sage.The Pandavas were more than thrilled when Dhaumya accepted the position to be their priest. The relationship between the Pandavas continued throughout their lives. He was the one who performed the marriage of Krishna (Draupadi) with the five Pandavas. He was the one who performed all the yagnas in Indraprastha. Dhaumya even traveled with the Pandavas when they went on a 13 year exile from Indraprastha....He became the perfect friend and spiritual guide for the Pandavas to guide them on the path of righteousness.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

After
their exile in the forests, the Pandavas were a dejected lot. And adding to their misery of the other Pandavas, the third Pandava went to the Himalayas to meditate and obtain divine weapons from the Gods.

The
remaining four brothers with Draupadi were even more unhappy. So in
order to make them happy, many sages came to their hermitage and
told them different stories and strange sights that they had seen. One such
time Sage Markandeya came to the hermitage. The sage was the one who
had conquered death by the grace of Lord Shiva.

The
Pandavas received him warmly. Markandeya in turn told them great and
lively stories.

The
first thing that struck the Pandavas on seeing the sage was that the
sage looked not a day older than the day he conquered death. But his eyes were the only
giveaway...the eyes spoke of a man with infinite wisdom and of a man who had
seen and heard things that others had not even dreamt of.

As
they listened to the stories, the Pandavas realized that the man
before them was someone ancient...someone who had been there long before them and had seen things they did not even know existed...

Yudhishtara
in jest asked a question to the great sage. 'Great sage! Is there anyone who is older
than you?'

Markandeya
looked amused at the question as he laughed quietly. 'I will tell you
a story! You can decide for yourself!'

The
Pandavas looked bewildered as Markandeya continued with his story.

'I
will tell you of something I saw many years back....'' Markandeya
said looking outside of the hermitage with glazed eyes. 'Once
I had just returned from a long pilgrimage and was just back home, when I saw a man, suddenly appear before me, out of nowhere. He just appeared, without any warning...Just like that...When he appeared before me, the man himself looked surprised like he could not believe what he was seeing. The man looked around muttering to himself. Despite being shocked, the man looked regal and almost powerful. He had an ancient aura around him, one that I could not define or understand....'I ran towards
him and helped him up. 'Who are you, great one?' I asked.

The
man was now looking anguished and sad. 'I have fallen!' He mumbled.

I
looked at him not understanding when the man continued. 'Long ago, I was a
human and I led a good life. I helped people whenever I could. After my death, because of all the good deeds
I had done, I was chosen to go to Indraloka. As you know, after your death, you spend
the time in the various realms, depending on the works that you have
done! If you do good, you go to one of the swargas! You
can stay there till your good merits last! If you do bad things, you stay in the lower realms! The minute your merits get over, you come back to earth for another cycle of birth and death!'
The man looked crestfallen. 'It looks like all the merits that
I have done have been forgotten!'

'Who
are you sir?' I asked.

'I
am Indradhyumna!' The man said unhappily.

I
looked sympathetically at the man when the man suddenly looked at me
with a strange expression. 'You are Markandeya! You are a
Chiranjeevi! Have you never seen me before?'

I
looked surprised and shook my head. 'I rarely stay in the same place
for more than a day! There is no way I would know...!'

The
man looked unhappy for a few seconds when he brightened again. 'Do
you know anyone who is older than you? Someone who may
remember me and my good deeds!'

I
nodded my head. 'In Himavat, there is an owl by name Pravarkarna! He
is older than me! He may know you! But he is far away from
here....'

As
soon as I said these words, Indradyumna changed himself into a horse
and carried me to Himavat. There we found Pravarkarna.

Indradyumna
transformed into a human and asked the owl without any preamble.
'Have you seen me?' The owl looked shocked for a few seconds and then
looked at the man up and down. 'I am afraid, I have not seen you.'

'Then
is there anyone who is older than you?' Indradhyumna immediately
asked.

The
owl looked at the king for a few seconds. 'What is your name, sir?'

'Indradyumna!'
the man replied.

The
owl looked shocked. The man looked eagerly as the owl continued.
'Strange though it may sound there is a lake by name
Indradyumna! Near the lake, lives a crane called
Nadijangha! He is older than me! He may know you!'

Then
me, the sage and the owl went to Nadijangha, the crane, and asked him
the same question. Unfortunately the crane also did not know
Indradyumna.

But
then the crane smiled saying, 'In this very lake, there is a very old
tortoise. The name of the tortoise is Akupura. He is older than me!'
Saying this Nadijangha turned to the lake and shouted. 'Akupura!
Please come here! We need to ask you something!'

The
tortoise came out of the lake and the first person he saw was
Indradyumna. Seeing the king, the tortoise started trembling with joy
and weeping uncontrollably. 'I never thought I would see you again!'
Akupura said looking at Indradyumna. 'My king! I
am so grateful to you!'

All
of us looked astonished at the tortoise as it
continued. 'He is a great king! He was the most generous man ever.'
The tortoise said looking at Indradyumna with shining
eyes. 'Do you know how this lake was formed? It was formed from the
hooves of the cattle that he gave away as gifts to other people...These cattle
that kept walking in the land, they all together formed a
depression in the land, creating this pond! I have lived here, since
then!' Akupura finished.

No
sooner had the tortoise finished the tale, a heavenly vehicle came
whizzing to the place as a heavenly voice said. 'As
long as your good deeds are remembered, you will live in heaven! The tortoise still lives because of your merits. Come! Come back to the higher heavens!'

Happily
Indradyumna dropped me and the owl back at our places and then rode
away on the vehicle, going to the swarga, which he
deserved...